Looking Back Through Memory’s Haze

 

                A commentary

By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

“Who steals my purse steals trash,…But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that        which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.”

-William Shakespeare, from Othello, Act III

The worst thing that one human being can do to another is to destroy the other’s reputation. That is what Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, aided and abetted by their Democrat colleagues, supporters and useful idiots in the liberal media, did to Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The evil was compounded by the pain they inflicted on his wife and daughters. They did this, not out of compassion for Kavanaugh’s accuser but purely for political purposes, to wit: to derail his confirmation or delay it until after the mid-term elections. That motive was revealed at the very outset of this travesty when Sen. Chuck Schumer and other Democrat leaders vowed to oppose the nomination by any means possible.

 

Complicit in this disgraceful smear strategy was California’s senior senator and ranking committee member Dianne Feinstein who sat on this allegation for six weeks in spite of ample opportunity to bring it up during committee hearings. This delay provided the opportunity for other uncorroborated accusations to surface. More will undoubtedly materialize out of thin air or the hazy recollections and creative imaginations of other would-be victims during the time it will take for the FBI investigation that the president has ordered. Anyone who thinks that a one-week time limit can be imposed on an FBI investigation simply does not know how the FBI works. Corroborated or not, the accusations will be believed by a large segment of gullible Americans who will believe anything which comports with their political or ideological biases or whatever the liberal media wants them to believe.

 

It is a basic tenet of the #MeToo movement that a woman who claims to be a victim of sexual assault never lies about such things. That is not supported by any reliable statistical evidence because it is simply not true. There are innumerable cases on record when women have. Females do not have a monopoly on truth. Of course, some people actually come to believe their own variations of the truth and can therefore pass a polygraph exam.

 

The brain is selective in retaining memories and, as Dr. Ford, a psychologist, has herself acknowledged, details become fuzzy over time. She cannot remember the date or the place where the attack occurred or how she got there or got home afterward. There is confusion over how many persons were allegedly present and none of her claims have been corroborated. Alleged witnesses have denied being present. If someone accused Dr. Ford of lying and making the entire story up because, say, she was jealous over being excluded from Judge Kavanaugh’s circle of friends (stranger things have happened), you’d be justified in calling it an outrageous accusation, devoid of any proof or corroborating evidence. But isn’t that what Dr. Ford is guilty of?

 

We may never know the truth and both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh probably believe that everything they have said is true. The headline on this column is taken from the lyric to a duet from the operetta “The Student Prince’ called “”Golden Days”, music by Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Dorothy Donally. In it, two characters are reflecting fondly on their college years “looking back through memories haze”. There was a lot of beer drinking in those days as I well recall, and that haze no doubt had a lot to do with the substantial amounts of that golden nectar of the Gods that most of us consumed. And, as I recall, it was a co-ed pastime. One of Judge Kavanaugh’s accusers acknowledged that her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking. That didn’t stop her from accusing him of lewd conduct and so now Democrats are questioning his college drinking habits and classbook entries.

 

If college drinking habits decades ago have now become a cause for public humiliation and disqualification for public office, I fear a substantial percentage of the college graduate population is in a heap of trouble. I grew up in New Haven, a mid-sized city constructed around the Yale University campus. I couldn’t afford to go to Yale but I attended a nearby state college. I was quite familiar with the Yale watering holes where the “Whiffenpoofs assembled with their glasses raised on high” Some very prominent national leaders passed through those places so if we are going to examine undergraduate behavior, including drinking habits, parties and classbook entries decades ago by college kids still learning to become adults, by all means, let the games begin. It should be hilarious. Perhaps even scandalous.

 

Meanwhile, it might be a good idea for caring parents to have that conversation with your high school or college-bound sons. Do not do or say anything to any unrelated female that could possibly be construed as even hinting at unwelcomed attention. Does that sound a little bit like living in a country where the women wear veils? Oh, and you might want to discourage them from running for any elected office or high profile appointment that requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. It might be dangerous to their reputation.

September 28, 2018

Democrats Desperate to Derail or Delay Kavanaugh Confirmation

 

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                The politicization of everything continues as Democrats pull out all the stops to delay senate confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh until after the mid-term elections if not forever. After disgraceful conduct by Democrat senators and their planted stooges among the spectators at the judicial committee hearings, all part of an effort to “Bork” this highly-qualified and respected judge, Sen. Dianne Feinstein took a page from the Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas playbook and surfaced a letter from a woman who, of course, wished to remain anonymous, claiming that Kavanaugh, when they were both high school teenagers, forced her into a bedroom during a drunken house party and held her down while trying unsuccessfully to remove her clothes. Kavanaugh categorically has denied this and a friend who she claimed was present says it didn’t happen.

 

The accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a university psychology professor and a Democrat who according to newspaper accounts has contributed three times to a fund supporting Democrat candidates, subsequently went public and demanded an FBI investigation of her unverified charges. If the FBI, which already has performed six background investigations on this well-vetted judge, should agree, perhaps they might also agree to investigate who stole my new scooter back in 1940.

 

Sen. Feinstein, usually the more sensible of California’s two liberal ladies in the Senate, should be ashamed of herself for coming forward with this allegation after sitting on it for months, perhaps because she didn’t think it was valid or she wanted to save for a last-minute delaying tactic. Why did she not question Judge Kavanaugh during the committee hearings? She had plenty of opportunity to do so. Can any fair and reasonable person believe it was anything other than a partisan attempt to delay the confirmation until after the mid-term elections, sparing Democrat senators in red states the tough choice of having to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation and to gain favor with her party’s left wing. Last- minute charges of sexual misconduct by Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas didn’t work then and the tactic shouldn’t be allowed to work now.

 

Dr. Ford, who is sometimes referred to as Dr. Blasey, has been given an opportunity to testify under oath before the committee. As of this writing, she has reportedly agreed to do so with conditions, one of which was that Judge Kavanaugh should speak to the charge first. That should be a non-starter. She made the charge and she should repeat it under oath first and to his face. If this highly-educated woman cannot muster up the courage and integrity to face, in the security of a senate committee room, the person she has tarnished with her accusation, she should not be taken seriously and the committee should recommend his confirmation and a prompt vote by the senate. And why would she not testify under oath? Because of the trauma she would experience at recounting the alleged details? Please. She knows that, if she is believable, she would become an instant heroine of the #MeToo movement. It would probably enhance her teaching and speaking career while she enjoys celebrity status among liberals and basks in her victimhood. There’s probably a book there, too. Having already gone public, she would have little to lose. Judge Kavanaugh, on the other hand, has much to lose and so does his family.

 

Perhaps Dr. Ford is somewhat uncertain about her recollections. By her account, there were two boys in the bedroom but her therapist’s notes refer to four. She reportedly can’t remember exactly where the alleged assault took place. Sexual assault victims, at least those who were fairly sober at the time, usually remember quite vividly where and when it happened. Sexual assault victims who wish to report it usually do so to law enforcement authorities, not to a member of congress unless, of course, there is a political motive involved. Her supporters note that she submitted to a polygraph test but that indicates merely that she believed what she was saying, not necessary that it happened. Finally, as a behavioral; scientist, she knows full well that teenage memories grow hazy over several decades and often become embellished and distorted.

 

The employment of this kind of tactic to thwart a confirmation progress, which was intended originally to confirm qualifications, needs to end. Enough of this judgment by allegation requiring the accused to prove his innocence. Why, in this environment, would anyone, especially a man, run for public office or accept a high-profile appointment? If given enough time, dirt can be dredged up on almost anyone or some can be manufactured. Whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, Republicans are unlikely to forget this disgraceful episode and Democrats will continue to seethe over their inability to get Judge Merrick Garland confirmed. The two parties therefore need to agree to be satisfied with the FBI background investigations and stick to confirming a nominee’s qualifications for the job.

September 25, 2018

Push to Impeach Imperils Democrats’ Poll Prospects

 

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

Efforts by the Democratic Party to delegitimize Donald Trump’s unexpected and apparently intolerable election victory were focused first on finding fault with the electoral college system. When that excuse for Hillary Clinton’s failure to win for the establishment in spite of being heavily favored failed to gather much sympathy, it shifted focus to the Russian-Trump campaign collusion theory. Failing to find any credible evidence of that, the anti-Trumpers’ energies turned to a campaign to impeach the president. It, too, will prove counter-productive because it is only serving to antagonize, mobilize and unite the Trump supporters.

 

As Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins noted recently, Donald Trump as a candidate was probably better known to the voting public than any presidential candidate in history. He was already a TV celebrity and he sought attention and publicity. His mannerisms and uninhibited, combative communications style were already well known long before he became a candidate and his personal life was not exactly a secret, either. Yet, the mainstream media spent an entire campaign reporting on it as if they had just discovered it. To their consternation and great irritation, Mr. Trump won anyway because enough voters were willing to overlook his many imperfections for a chance to effect change in Washington.

 

The media and Trump’s opponents continued to beat this dead horse throughout the first eighteen months of his presidency as if it were breaking news, apparently oblivious to the reality that the people that voted for him cared more about jobs, the economy and an end to illegal immigration than the personal life and habits of the president. The public, sadly, has become conditioned to outrageous behavior. I, personally, couldn’t bring myself to vote for him, but enough voters could and that’s what counts in our democracy. We abide by election results or democracy doesn’t work.

 

Attempts by Democrats to delegitimize the election failed. It didn’t matter that Clinton won the popular vote. So have other losing candidates in the past and it didn’t matter then, either. That’s the way the system works in this country and good luck trying to change it. The smaller states would never agree to let a handful of major cities determine who gets to be president. We are a union of states, not individuals.

 

The desperate attempt to find evidence of collusion with Russian agents on the part of the Trump campaign failed despite the best efforts of the Mueller team. So now the focus is on impeaching the president. But that requires an impeachable offense and only congress can impeach a sitting president which means, essentially, that Democrats must gain control of both houses of congress in order to win a vote to impeach in the House and a conviction in the Senate. Republicans, of course, are well aware of this and that they must prevail in the forthcoming mid-term elections.

 

Impeachment, therefore, has become the main issue in these elections which is why every Trump supporter and others who respect the office of the presidency and our election process and wants to protect them from a politically-inspired attempt to override the results of a fair election will vote for every Republican candidate running for congress. Every GOP candidate for congress who wins is a vote against impeachment.

 

Mr. Trump has endorsed 37 Republican candidates thus far and 35 of them have won. Trump’s support among Republicans is at a record high and his endorsements are making a difference, raising the chances of Republican victories. For this, Democrats can blame themselves for making impeachment a primary election issue. Perhaps it’s because it’s the only issue they have.

September 19, 2018

The Trials and Tribulations of Trump

 

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

The Mueller inquest finally came up with something that might actually be pinned to Donald Trump, at least indirectly. It has nothing to do with Russia or collusion with the Russians on the part of the Trump campaign to influence the 2026 election but hey, it’s something they can use to try to justify all that time and money spent digging for dirt on the president. That’s the problem, of course, with these special investigations. They’re allowed to go on forever and search wherever until they find something to show for the effort, even if it has nothing to do with the original purpose of the investigation.

 

That purpose, you may recall, was to determine whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian agents to influence the outcome of the election. Finding no evidence of that, the investigators are free to concentrate their energies on pursuing any evidence of wrongdoing that their investigation happens to uncover. They hit pay dirt in Michael Cohen, Trump’s one-time personal attorney and passed the information they had on him concerning, inter alia, payments made to a porn star and to a former Playboy playmate to keep quiet about affairs they alleged they had with Trump, to the U.S. Attorney for Southern New York.

 

Cohen subsequently stated in court that Trump had directed him to arrange for these payments. Assuming that Cohen was not lying, an heroic assumption, perhaps, given his record in that regard, that makes Trump vulnerable to a possible charge of illegally using campaign funds, if, in fact, campaign funds were used. Proving such a charge is quite another matter. Trump has denied that he directed the payments be made. Intent to commit a crime would have to be proved. Money is fungible. Nevertheless, the anti-Trumpers are ecstatic at the smell of blood.

 

They should just take a deep breath and try to contain themselves. A sitting president cannot be indicted, and Mueller, at least, is too smart to try. An indictment would never hold up as any constitutional lawyer knows. The Constitution makes it clear that the only way to remove an elected president is via the impeachment process in Congress. That isn’t going to happen as long as the GOP remains the majority party in either house since the House of Representatives must vote on articles of impeachment and if they vote for impeachment, the Senate must try the case with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding.

 

Minority Leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer and some other arch-critics of the president embarrassed themselves by using the Cohen statements implicating the president in their campaign to delay hearings to confirm Mr. Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, until after the midterm elections, presumably because of what they apparently thought would be the Supreme Court’s role in any impeachment trial. But unless Kavanaugh were somehow elevated to Chief Justice, he would have no involvement.

 

The other Mueller victory was the conviction of one-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on eight counts of fraud stemming from illegal personal finance dealings. Mr. Trump fired him shortly after his nominating convention victory but the poor vetting process prior to hiring him and other associates reflects on Mr. Trump’s poor judgment and lack of political experience which have characterized his first term thus far. His personnel management skills seem largely limited to knowing how to fire people. His chaotic management style is unlikely to change but his impeachment is even more unlikely.

 

The Mueller investigation, badly tainted by the Peter Strozk/Lisa Page scandal, has gone on for far too long. Now that it has uncovered enough dirt to stretch into a final report, the best thing that Mr. Mueller can do for the country is to wrap things up and get writing that report. Perhaps then we can re-focus on the ongoing congressional investigation of Hillary Clinton and the Steele dossier business and James Comey’s role in influencing the 2016 election by reopening the Clinton email investigation on the eve of the election as well as evidence of political bias in our intelligence organizations.

August 16, 2018

America’s Uncertain Future

 

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                America’s culture is changing, as cultures usually do, the change in our case fueled largely by decades of liberal immigration policies contributing toward changing expectations regarding the role of government. Along the way, and having nothing whatever to do with immigration, the sexual revolution has changed moral values resulting in, among other things, more broken marriages, more children born out of wedlock, reared by single working mothers, struggling financially and leading to more dependence on government benefits. Increasingly, more Americans are demanding more of government and changes in government spending priorities.

 

The country seems to be transitioning from what began as a proud and vibrant young democracy of limited government with few government benefits, growing along the way into the world’s largest economy and most powerful nation, to what is beginning to resemble a European-style social welfare state. That resemblance may become reality if progressives, who are seizing control of the Democratic Party, gain control of our government. The party is clearly drifting leftward and that appears to be just fine with most young Democrats who know little of real-world economics and seem enamored with the rising stars of the left like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren or California’s latest liberal lady in the senate, Kamala Harris or the newest star of the left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who upset longtime Democrat establishment member Rep. Joe Crowley in a New York primary. A recent poll of their supporters revealed that a majority preferred socialism over capitalism.

 

Referring to President Donald Trump’s theme of making America great again, New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently said that America was never that great. Well, yes it was, Governor. America earned her independence, starting out as 13 struggling colonies, and grew into a great power that became the envy of the world and twice rescued it from devastating world wars, rebuilt much of it and prevailed over the Soviet Union in the Cold War. America gave people like you the opportunity to become famous and powerful. As Barack Obama might have put it, you didn’t build that career by yourself.

 

Like every other nation, we were never perfect and still aren’t, and we aren’t proud of some aspects of our history, but times and values change and things we know now are wrong may not have always seemed so wrong to people then. We can’t deny our past mistakes but neither should we suggest that they cancelled out all the good that America has done and stood for throughout our history.

 

If America is not still the greatest of nations, why is it the preferred destination for everyone that wants to leave theirs? Why have so many American patriots fought, suffered or died to defend it? Why do immigrants often leave everything they have and risk their very lives to come here? And if progressives really think that socialism is preferable to capitalism, why are there so many failed socialist states like Cuba and Venezuela run by dictators who couldn’t successfully manage a three-hole outhouse? Some wit once mused that if socialists ran the Sahara Desert, they would run out of sand. Well, when they try to run a country they eventually run out of other people’s money.

 

A talk show host recently asked a progressive guest to name a country where socialism has worked. She responded, “Norway”. But Norway has a population of about 5 million, less than that of the state of Maryland.  It is richly endowed with North Sea oil wealth, has a national debt of less than $90 billion and relies on NATO for its defense. It can afford cradle-to-grave welfare. The United States, on the other hand, has a very diverse population of over $325 million and has world-wide interests and obligations. It is $21 trillion in debt, the interest on which is consuming more and more of the budget and crowding out needed spending on infrastructure and defense.

 

If progressives take control of our government expect to see that debt spiral totally out of control with disastrous results. Single payer medical care, which they want, alone will cost over $30 trillion. Free college for all and other new entitlements will likely more than double the debt. From whence will the money come? You know full well the answer; higher taxes. But then very soon they, too, will run out of other people’s money.

September 9, 2018